a girl, her dog, and her polaroid camera

i heart manatees

And I love this print. I’d put this up on my wall in a heartbeat. If you know where it’s from please tell me. I can’t find any credit for it.

When I was maybe 9 years old I read an article (or perhaps, more accurately it was read to our class) on manatees being hurt and killed by speed boats in Florida. I begged by teacher to help me find a way I could help the manatees. It’s funny the things we choose to stand up for when we’re young. But this was my “cause” and I really wanted to help. My teacher got me the address for the Governor of Florida and let’s just say I wrote my heart out. I think I still have the letter I received back from him. It was kind of a big deal.

He also inclosed a form to join the Save the Manatee Club. With my birthday money saved up I joined the club. Maybe it was all the trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium but I have always loved sea creatures. So anyway I adopted 2 manatees: Boomer and Sweet Gums. I was a proud mama and lived for the updates I got in the mail on my two manatees.

I kept renewing my membership for a few years because I loved Boomer and Sweet Gums so much. Then one day I received a sad letter telling me that Sweet Gums had been killed by a the propeller of a speed boat. I kept renewing Boomer’s adoption until he died several years later.

So there’s something you probably didn’t know about me. I ♥ manatees. I also remember reading that the idea of mermaids came from Christopher Columbus spotting manatees in the ocean and not knowing what they were.